29. Ciambella Scottolata di Valmontone
History
A few kilometres from the capital, on a tuffaceous hill surrounded by greenery, stands the beautiful town of Valmontone with its monumental 17th century Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj. In this town, last century the Antica Forneria Cerci was known and frequented by all, a historical bakery now closed in which Mrs Cerci, an eighty-six year old citizen of Valmontone, worked. She still represents the historical memory of the town's confectionery production. She is in fact credited with the historical knowledge of the recipe for the Ciambella scottolata di Valmontone, a product that is therefore more than a hundred years old.
According to tradition, this cake was mainly made during the Easter festivities and offered as a gift, together with other traditional sweets, to the cronies and comrades at weddings, confirmations and communions. The recipe now offered by other bakeries in the village includes a few simple ingredients: flour, sugar, oil, eggs, yeast and, if desired, vanilla and/or cinnamon. The procedure involves preparing the dough: first the eggs to which the sugar is added, then the oil, baking powder, possibly vanilla and/or cinnamon and the flour a little at a time. The dough is then transferred to a flat surface and the manual kneading begins to obtain doughnuts with a diameter of 8 to 15 centimetres and a flower shape (thanks to the cuts on the sides). The doughnuts are placed on tables to rest for about 15 minutes and then boiled. It is from this first cooking in boiling water that the dialect name 'scottolata' derives. After drying for 12 hours, the doughnuts are then baked in the oven.
The product
The Ciambella scottolata di Valmontone, characterised by its round flower shape, has a uniform colour ranging from light brown to dark hazelnut. Its aroma is characterised by notes of flour, oil and egg, combined with hints of toast. The taste is sweet with a slight salty note. Good crunchiness and medium aromatic persistence.
GIULIO PIZZUTI, ALDERMAN FOR PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF VALMONTONE
'The ciambella scottolata is our main traditional baked product'. This is how Giulio Pizzuti begins, recounting how tenaciously and passionately he has managed to obtain, together with the mayor and his colleagues, the Municipal Denomination for this true gastronomic excellence. The recovery operation carried out by the municipality also led to the active involvement of the five Valmontone bakeries, which began producing it during the festive season.
"The first step was taken together with Alberto Latini, the mayor of Valmontone, with whom we decided to visit Mrs Cerci, our elderly countrywoman who once owned the historic bakery in Valmontone. The Antica Forneria Cerci, which has been closed for some time now, was an institution in the town!' This 86-year-old woman was the repository of the ancient recipe for the ciambella scottolata, a peasant-derived cake, unfailingly present on tables during the Easter holidays, but also at weddings or other religious events. But that's not all! Giulio Pizzuti recounts that the doughnut was also a food commonly eaten in the taverns that were present in the village until the last century and much frequented by the elderly: 'The doughnut has the characteristic of keeping for days and being excellently accompanied by a good glass of wine. The village elders, therefore, loved to taste it by cutting it into pieces and alternating it, between one chat and another, with the wine served by the host in quarts. A moment, now in the past, of village conviviality then!'.
